Leaders of the UK’s main political parties were yesterday engaged in a frantic last drive for votes in a general election both Tories and Labour have described as the most important in a generation.

With polls opening this morning, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn yesterday criss-crossed the country in a final bid to win over the waverers.

Final opinion polls suggested that while the Conservatives remain in front, they are still not guaranteed an overall majority in the new parliament.

The prime minister’s day got off to a bumpy start as he was accused of “hiding” in a fridge on live TV to avoid a reporter pressing him for an interview on ITV’s ‘Good Morning Britain’.

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Mr Johnson insisted he was “fighting for every vote” as his campaign tour took him through South Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

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“This could not be more critical, it could not be tighter. I just say to everybody the risk is very real that we could tomorrow be going into another hung parliament,” he told reporters.

His itinerary included photo opportunities on a milk round – intended to highlight his promise to deliver Brexit – and at a bakery to illustrate his “oven ready” deal.

Mr Corbyn started his last day of campaigning in Glasgow South West with a promise of “real hope” for voters affected by years of austerity.

Later, at a rally of supporters in Middlesbrough, he brushed off the evidence of the polls to insist Labour could still win.

“Of course we are going to do it – no problem at all,” he said.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson was concentrating her efforts on the area around London and Surrey where the party is hoping to pick up seats.

They include Esher and Walton, where polls have suggested Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab may be vulnerable, despite a majority of more than 23,000 at the last election.

Ms Swinson said the polls showed it was still “absolutely possible” to deny the Tories an overall majority through tactical voting.

“We know from past elections that very often voters who vote tactically come to that conclusion in the final hours before they cast their vote,” she said.

Her call came as the Liberal Democrat candidate in South Stockton urged voters to back his Labour rival who is defending a wafer-thin 888 majority over the Tories.

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Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon campaigned in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Dunbartonshire, while Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage was in South Yorkshire.

Speaking in Doncaster, Mr Farage said he was hoping for “very, very heavy rain” in the town today in the belief that it would depress the votes of the other parties.

“I know that people who are going to vote for us will turn out because they absolutely believe in our message. They believe in their hearts as well as in their heads,” he said.

A final constituency-by-constituency poll by YouGov forecast that the Conservatives are on course for a 28-seat majority.

However, it warned that the margin of error – together with the unknown impact of tactical voting – meant a hung parliament is still possible, as is a larger Tory majority.

The pollsters calculated the Tories would win 339 seats to Labour’s 231.

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